Baggarly: Felipe Alou feels fortunate to be alive
From Andrew Baggarly at The Athletic on July 3, 2019:
The Giants announced their group of 25 international signings on Tuesday. The smooth-faced teenagers buttoned up Giants jerseys, celebrated with their families and posed for pictures at the Felipe Alou Baseball Academy in the Dominican Republic.
In a few weeks, Alou plans to travel from his home in South Florida and watch the kids practice at the facility that bears his name.
And truly, that will be a moment to celebrate.
Because this, the 84th year of Alou’s pioneering life, has been the most challenging of them all. He hasn’t seen a live baseball game in two seasons. He has endured four surgeries over the past 12 months: an emergency neck procedure to alleviate a compressed disc, then total knee replacement, then a prostate issue.
As he was wheeled into his latest and most significant surgery — an emergency open-heart procedure on May 20 — he had to be honest with himself. He wasn’t confident he would wake from it.
Read the full article here (subscription required): https://theathletic.com/1061298/2019/07/03/felipe-alou-feels-fortunate-to-be-alive-and-he-cannot-wait-to-meet-the-giants-newest-class-of-international-signees/
- Related link: Read our biography of Felipe Alou at the SABR BioProject
Originally published: July 4, 2019. Last Updated: July 4, 2019.